


(un)Acceptable Losses

by laughtales



Category: One Piece
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Mentions of Slavery, Mentions of Suicide, supportive partners in crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laughtales/pseuds/laughtales
Summary: Koala encounters an unpleasant reminder during a mission. Sabo worries about his partner.
Relationships: Koala & Sabo (One Piece)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	(un)Acceptable Losses

There’s a knock on his office door followed by, “Miss Koala’s team has returned from their mission.” Sabo is laid back at his desk staring at the ceiling, musing over next missions and strategies. Koala would be proud, he’s actual working for once if only in his head.

“Sir?” Right, the messenger at his door and the always-knock-twice rule Koala implemented because if the Chief of Staff isn’t napping or in his head, he’s purposely ignoring you and the least that ingrate can do is give some indication that the room’s not empty. And for the insurance of reporting that a sincere attempt was made even though everyone knows, when in doubt, it’s more likely to be Sabo’s fault. That logic applies to much, much more than just trying to get the Chief of Staff to attend meetings.

Sabo sighs and is on his feet in one fluid motion, grabbing his hat on the way to the door and dropping it on his head. He opens the door to a bored looking man he doesn’t recognize, one of the new recruits he assumes. Sabo motions and they head towards one of their many debriefing rooms.

Sabo scans over the man in front of him. He’s scrawny but tall and from the way he moves, clearly agile on his feet. Sabo didn’t miss the once over he gave Sabo when he opened the door either although the indifference he masked it behind was effective. Too bad Sabo’s good at more than just his assigned job. Sabo can also sense a murmur of restlessness but not in the nervous way but more curious let-me-do-something-more-exciting. But quick reflexes and a keen eye aren’t particularly rare among their ranks and eagerness often equates to recklessness and that jeopardizes missions. Regardless, it’s more than Sabo wants to deal with right now and it seems the room they’re headed to is one of the farthest.

“How long?” He asks instead.

“Sir?”

“Please don’t call me that. Just Sabo is fine, my title if you must,” Sabo interrupts. “How long have you been on Baltigo, err…?” Sabo trails. He missed his chance to get a name and his brain supplied a rather unflattering substitute but he’s interrupted before it has a chance to settle on his tongue. 

“People call me Cam. I’ve been here about a week. I was stationed in East Blue before Commander Betty recommended me here.”

Sabo frowns. Betty has a good eye for hidden talent so there must more than meets the eye with this guy. He’s not making it very obvious though. Which could either be a remarkably good sign or a bad one. Well, that’s another problem for another day ideally for another person.

“What about the mission? How did it go?”

“Which mission?”

Sabo takes a deep breath. “The one we’re on our way to hear the details of.”

“Oh, right, that one.” Cam takes a moment to recall before replying. “Successful. No casualties. Minimal damages and losses overall. Miss Koala-”

“Don’t call her that unless you want to get punched through three walls,” Sabo remarks. It’s a wonder he hasn’t already been punched.

“Noted,” Cam replies. “Koala infiltrated the mansion and recovered the evidence. No major complications although there was a small fight during extraction. I don’t know many of the details, I only caught so much before Truce sent me to get you.”

Sabo stops in his tracks. “Truce sent you?” Cam nods. “Not Koala.”

“Um, no, Chief. All Koala said was that the team would debrief. Then she excused herself and returned to her room.”

_Shit._

Sabo spins on his heels and jumps onto the window ledge, much to Cam’s surprise. “Debrief without me. I’ll read the report later,” he remembers to say before his tailcoats disappear below the ledge, leaving Cam looking dumbfounded. 

Sabo drops two floors down and flips through a window on Koala’s room floor with ease. He runs, sprints, down the hallway ignoring everyone and heads straight for Koala.

_Shit, shit, shit._

Koala not raiding his office should’ve been the red flag. She knows how hard it is to get him to do anything and has a better track record than most although that’s usually courtesy of an appropriate level of man-handling. The building hasn’t shaken yet and no one is running from Koala’s warpath which only serves to increase the sinking feeling in his gut. Because Koala vents. He vents. They all do. It’s one of the first things ranking officers are taught to do because in their line of work with what they see, it’s a matter of when, not if, you break if you keep things bottled up.

Sabo reaches the door to Koala’s room and stops. “Koala,” he knocks lightly, “I know you’re in there. I’m coming in.” He steps inside without waiting for a response and shuts the door softly. The lights aren’t on and the curtains are drawn. With his limited vision, he can see her hat thrown haphazardly on the floor and Koala sitting on the bed, knees drawn to her chest and head rested on her arms.

He picks her hat off the floor, dusts it off, and hangs it carefully where it belongs and hangs his own next to hers before sitting down on her bed. Far enough to give her space but close enough to offer what comfort she may want.

“You’re usually the one telling me not to hold things in,” he says. “Want to talk about it?” Koala twitches but doesn’t reply. “Infiltration, evidence recovery, extraction.” Sabo continues, “I heard the mission was a success. Some new guy, Jam or something, gave me the rundown. Fill me in on the in-between?” Sabo suggests, as if he didn’t spend his entire unconventional journey here digging through his brain for every detail of her mission.

“His name is Cam.” Koala scoffs quietly, knowing equally well that Sabo knows every logistical detail of her mission. “Unless you aren’t talking about the guy Betty sent us last week that I saw at the gate ten minutes ago.”

Sabo shrugs, relaxing an inch. “I was close.”

“Better than usual,” she agrees and lifts her head. Her eyes are red, but not like she’s been crying. Like she’s been trying hard not to. She shuffles and changes positions, using Sabo as her new backrest instead.

He lets her, settling into their new position and waits.

“It was an easy mission. Port Grey’s nobility has been financially backing the war ravaging the surrounding islands and making a fortune from it but no one could get evidence of it to convince other nations to help them. Our job was to infiltrate the mansion of who we suspected of spearheading the operation and to recover evidence. I posed as a courier and entered the mansion. Everyone else was on standby nearby.”

Sabo nods. “You have the most experience with infiltration.”

“Yeah,” Koala agrees, “I’ve done it plenty of times. I didn’t even have to pose as a servant this time.” Sabo can feel her tense against his back and he leans back ever so slightly, a silent show of support. “Had to make a couple trips in and out. He kept his dirty laundry well hidden. Can’t say the same for the other shit he was doing.”

Koala stops talking and Sabo can feel the tremor that runs through her. When she continues, it’s hardly more than a whisper.

“There was this girl. Ten? Twelve? Hard to tell for sure but no older than that. She wasn’t the only one but she was the youngest.” Koala inhales slowly. “She was…” her voice wavers, “she was-”

“A slave.” Sabo finishes for her. The word burns on his tongue. She nods. “Koala-”

“Don’t.” She interrupts. “It’s my life and I’m here and stronger because of it.” She bumps her head against his to drive it home.

Sabo smiles sadly and bumps her back. “Yeah.”

“Well, the extraction went easier than anticipated. There was some kind of commotion at the mansion that day. I saw on my way out, what they considered ‘an annoying inconvenience’,” Koala spits. “She’d killed herself, that girl. A _child_ felt so trapped and hopeless that her only freedom was death. She’d taken a broken mirror to her throat. And all they cared about was the _mess_.” Koala seethed, clenching her fists at the memory so hard her knuckles turned white.

She slumps a moment later, exhausted anger draining out of her. “They disposed of her body like trash.”

There are several within the Revolutionary Army that know Koala’s history but only in broad strokes – the Sun Pirates sending her home and the tragic death of Fisher Tiger influencing her to join their cause. Few, Sabo can name them all on one hand, know the finer details surrounding the mark on her back. “I suppose that’s what triggered the ‘small fight’?” Sabo inquires lightly although his fury burns at the injustice as well.

Koala moves suddenly in front of Sabo, fuming and pouting at the same time. “She deserved a proper burial.”

“I agree.” Sabo says, dead serious. “I agree with what you did. I’m proud of you; I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you. And neither was leaving the rest of them behind.” A grimace crosses Koala’s face and she looks away. “That’s why we’re doing this. We’ll drag down the bastards and the system that lets those them get away with stuff like that.”

Koala lets out a breath, “Yeah. One day, we won’t _need_ to save anyone because there won’t _be_ anyone to save.” She slaps her face, makes a determined sound and strides confidently over to the windows and rips open the curtains, the sudden light blinding him for a moment. Then she walks over and pulls her hat over her red locks and grabs Sabo’s too. Even though their current position doesn’t require it, he still bows his head as per their tradition and Koala perches his hat delicately on his head. She offers him a hand and he pulls himself up, falling into step with her out of the room.

They walk in silence for a while; Koala in front, Sabo trailing behind.

“Thanks,” Koala says suddenly, “for coming to find me.”

Sabo blinks, but smiles wide a beat later. “But of course, partner.”

Koala smiles and slows a couple steps until they’re side by side.

“So how ‘small’ a fight was it really?” She punches him in the arm. “It’s a legitimate question! Considering your track record.”

“Pot calling the kettle black!” Koala huffs. “I only broke that bastard noble’s nose a little bit. Truce wouldn’t let me castrate him.”

Sabo laughs, “I can’t wait to read the report.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments fuel my motivation <3


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